‘His calmness under pressure was absolutely phenomenal…’: Virat Kohli on RCB captain Rajat Patidar | Ipl News
Captain Rajat Patidar Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s 18-year long wait for an IPL trophy as his side beat the Punjab Kings six runs in the final on Tuesday night at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Patidar, who was first brought into RCB as an injury replacement in 2022, was made captain for the IPL side this year. With Virat Kohli being the captain of the team from 2013 to 2021 followed Faf du Plessis captaining the side till 2024, Patidar led his team with ease into the final and won the trophy. In a dressing room speech post the win, Kohli showered praise on Patidar as a leader along with his Madhya Pradesh team-mate Jitesh Sharma, who scored a quickfire 24 runs off ten balls in the final to propel RCB to a total of 190 runs.
“These guys have a different mindset. They are made differently. Taking up the job so well. Rajat led from the front. Led with composure. His bowling changes, his calmness under pressure was absolutely phenomenal during the tournament, and he just got this really balanced personality which really helps him stay calm under pressure. And Jitesh as well. As excited as he is. He is a brilliant cricketing brain and you could see just the way he stepped up his game in the most crucial moments yeah. Two good friends from Madhya Pradesh getting the job done for RCB,” Kohli said during his speech in the dressing room in a video shared RCB.
In the league stage, RCB had won all of their seven away matches this season before they won Qualifier 1 against Punjab Kings to make their way into the final. The team had nine different Player-of-the-Match winners during their campaign with Krunal Pandya winning the award in the final with his spell of two for 17. Kohli too talked about the presence of different match winners in the team. “Full bunch of match winners. People stepping at different stages and putting their hand up to get the job done for the team. Just have that hunger and have confidence in them. They just come and do the job. This guy, Local lad (Mayank Agarwal) comes in place of Dev (Devdutt Paddikal) and plays the day. You can see where that badge of pride is. Of our city. That thing can never go away from a Bangalore boy. I am just happy that I could do it with RCB,” shared Kohli.
Kohli also talked about the winning feeling as a ‘difficult thing to explain’. RCB will be given a grand welcome at Bengaluru this evening where they will also be met Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah at the Vidhana Soudha apart from a victory parade from Vidhana Soudha to Chinnaswamy Stadium followed a fan event at the stadium. “Very difficult to explain. I think I will feel the real side of it when we are going to reach Bengaluru. And Celebrate with the city and the fans, who have stood with us through thick and thin. So I am just relieved,” Kohli said.
